Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) must rely on his Republican conference to stay united in order to pass the continuing resolution, as Democrats have made it clear that they will be leaving the GOP to their own devices on this spending bill. The legislation, made public over the weekend, raises defense spending by about $8 billion and lowers nondefense spending by about $13 billion. Funding expires on Friday.

With a razor-thin majority coupled with vacancies, Johnson can only afford to lose one vote to pass the CR with just Republican support. But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is a confirmed “no” vote, and several other GOP lawmakers like Reps. Tim Burchett (R-TN) and Rich McCormick (R-GA) are holdouts as of Tuesday morning.

Johnson, for his part, is not worried about the CR’s ability to pass on the floor.

“We will have the votes,” the speaker said during the GOP’s weekly press conference Tuesday morning. “We’re going to pass the CR. We can do it on our own.”

The speaker, as well as other Republicans, has blasted Democrats for their messaging on the bill. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said Monday that the CR is “not something we could ever support” — accusing the bill of “[ripping] away life-sustaining healthcare and retirement benefits from everyday Americans.”

“They either have an issue with reading comprehension, or they are attempting to run one of the most shameful misinformation campaigns that we’ve ever seen in our lives,” Johnson said. “Every single word of that is a lie. Every single — they just made it up. They didn’t read the bill…there are no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security. Zero.”

Whether Johnson will require Democratic votes remains to be seen. Trump has made calls to various members this week to urge their support on the CR, and he met with hard-line conservatives of the Freedom Caucus last week. 

Vice President JD Vance attended the Republicans’ weekly conference meeting on Tuesday. He urged lawmakers to vote for the spending deal, noting that a government shutdown is critical to maintaining Trump’s agenda on border security, a member in the room told the Washington Examiner. 

Vance also appeared to warn that any delay in funding the government could stall recent efforts by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, two members confirmed to the Washington Examiner. 

Clearing the rule vote is a victory for Johnson, as hard-liners have voted against the procedural in the past as a form of protest to GOP leaders’ decision.

But most hard-line conservatives are surprisingly supporting the spending deal. Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris said during a rare appearance at the GOP leadership press conference that typically, HFC members are against CRs because it is “usually the first step to an omnibus bill.”

“This clearly is not,” Harris said, adding, “this is not your grandfather’s continuing resolution.”

Trump, who has inserted himself into House Republican affairs multiple times to influence votes on previous spending deals and other controversial bills, appears to be the driving force for many hard-liners’ support.

This was expected given the way he inserted himself into House Republican affairs multiple times as a presidential candidate, influencing votes on previous spending deals and other controversial bills.

Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) said he’s for the CR — “barely.”

“The ‘barely’ is Donald Trump. I mean, he is the difference maker,” Burlison said. “I would never support this language, but I do trust Donald Trump.”

He said “absolutely” when Fox News reporter Chad Pergram confirmed “it’s not Mike Johnson, it’s not the Whip [Emmer],” responsible for his “yes” vote. Burlison met with Trump last week and held conversations with White House team members “to get more of the details,” he added.

“He’s not let me down. I think that he is a man of his word, and so I believe him when he says he’s going to get it done,” Burlison said, with “it” referring to the deficit and balancing the budget.

On the other side, Democratic leadership strongly advocated against the CR during their weekly caucus meeting Tuesday, and they are whipping members to vote “no” on the measure, a House Democrat in the room confirmed to the Washington Examiner.

Two Democratic members told the Washington Examiner that they believe the caucus is on the same page heading into the final passage vote.

“Vibes are we are united, but Rs probably have the votes,” one Democrat said.

Eyes are on swing-district members, however, to see whether they break from the party and vote for the CR. Conservative Democrats like Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) have often strayed from leadership requests and voted for spending bills or contentious GOP legislation in the past.

But one House Democrat familiar with swing-district members’ thinking told the Washington Examiner they have not heard of any “yes” votes on the CR. 

“I haven’t met one yet, but perhaps there is someone out there, but I’m unaware of it,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who represents a purple district and scraped by through to reelection in the 2024 election, also said of possible detractors.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS RETREAT GIVES CAUCUS FIRST GLIMPSE OF FUTURE LEADERSHIP — AND CHANCE FOR A RESET

Republicans have been consistently pushing for days that any government shutdown blame should be placed on the Democrats. Johnson said he wishes the CR could be a “unanimous vote,” but doesn’t anticipate much Democrat support on the measure.

“Democrats ought to do the responsible thing, follow their own advice in every previous scenario, and keep the government open,” the speaker said.

Hailey Bullis contributed to this report